


Brought Together, At Last

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin is a lonely person, Anakin is not stupid sometimes, Background Relationships, Declarations Of Love, M/M, Rex has been pining, but Rex couldn't make the first step
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-27 21:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8417791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Anakin gambles on a little emotional honesty in the aftermath of Snips nearly getting killed. Again. Rex returns the favor.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilyconrad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyconrad/gifts).



As Anakin moved away from the bacta tank, he took in the fact that Rex was standing there, watching the form inside it floating with as much concern as any brother ever displayed for the injured. Maybe there was even a bit more, because the girl inside had taken her injuries to protect her squad, and nearly paid with her life.

"She'll be fine, Captain," Anakin made himself say, past the fear in his own chest. It had been a very near thing, and Ahsoka had been unresponsive when the relief effort broke through to her and the men she had kept alive.

"And you, sir?"

Anakin had to fight to keep from flushing under that neutral inquiry. Rex had been at his side, had seen when Anakin took notice of the growing desperation in his padawan. His fighting had become more driven, brutal in the cuts and Force-Pushes he had used to clear the way to that squad.

He then remembered that Rex's cool, calm fighting style had intensified too, with Rex dealing the final shot to the sentient commander on the field, a blaster shot right through the man's brain.

"I could ask the same of you, Rex," Anakin retorted.

"I keep my Jedi alive, even when he's neglecting his defenses to save our other one, sir," Rex told him with a hint of steel.

Anakin dropped his eyes, trying not to read too much into that bold possessive applied to him. He didn't belong to anyone… but Rex didn't mean it _that_ way. It was a nurturing possessive, one that made claim to an emotional hold, or maybe only a duty. That thought made him look back up, but the blaze in Rex's eyes said he'd meant it with his heart.

"Come on; we should hit the reports before Obi-Wan starts aggravating Squeak on the comms."

Rex turned to escort Anakin out of medical, and the Jedi got a sense of relief from the man. Anakin half-snorted, knowing the captain had thought he'd probably planned to stay and watch her for hours.

He might have, if it hadn't been for the fact he was still afraid of how driven his reaction had been. This kept happening, as Ahsoka pushed herself to be stronger and faster than her young body could actually deliver.

"I should send her to the Temple for a while, let her catch up on some classes," he mused aloud.

"Sir, if you do, you'll break her spirit," Rex said freely. "She needs to know she didn't fail today—"

"Kriffing hells, she didn't!" Anakin snapped, interrupting his officer.

"— but if you take her out of the field so soon, she will draw that conclusion," Rex finished. "I can come up with ship-side training for her, General, while she rehabs, but put yourself in her shoes. Weren't you back in the fighting in only weeks after Geonosis, that first time?"

Anakin smiled sheepishly, nodding. "Before they even Knighted me," he agreed. He then narrowed his eyes and looked over. "How did you know that?"

Rex gave that half-smile of his and snorted. "I guessed."

Slowly, the smile on Anakin's lips grew, as he realized just how well Rex had come to know him. It was echoed by the rare full smile from Rex, with a light in his eyes that made Anakin know what existed between them was a far truer relationship than just the demands of duty.

+++

They were sitting together, the reports done, when Anakin looked over at Rex. "What do you want, Rex? I mean, what's your future?"

"I don't think about that," Rex told him honestly. "What's the point of looking ahead, beyond the next fight anyway, when we're made solely for dying? The Senator's objections duly noted, but it is the truth," he said.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Anakin growled, before he forced his temper back into its cage. "We're going to end this war, Rex. And you can't live thinking you will die before that. You just can't."

"It'll save me a lot of disappointment in the end, sir, when I do."

"Knock that 'sir' stuff off; we're off-duty right now, and I am having a conversation with my friend, not my captain," Anakin told him, shifting in his chair to face Rex fully. "You are my friend, aren't you?"

Because Anakin was looking right at him, he caught the startled glance, the way Rex's eyes then softened for a moment, before a careful mask fell into place, blanking the expression.

"Of course I am your friend. You treat all of us well, s— Anakin."

Anakin pounced on that moment, a move made of his true need for a friend, for someone that saw him as a sentient being and not a usefully gifted asset… something he was certain Rex could relate to. "This isn't about them. It's about you. It's about us, what we are with one another, a shelter against all of this, a place to hold on when it gets too strong and we feel like we're being swallowed by the sands."

He didn't know what was on his face, didn't know how much of his loneliness and misgivings had bled into his voice, but Rex moved, reaching out to grip Anakin's shoulder, letting his mask die away.

"You are my friend. One of a very few I count, outside my brothers," Rex said, emotionally honest in that moment, and looking all too vulnerable because of it.

Anakin brought his own arm up, laying his flesh hand on Rex's shoulder in kind. "You'd tell me, if you had something on your mind, or… maybe in your heart?"

This close, Rex's nervous swallow was all too obvious, and it was almost answer enough.

Almost.

There had to be open consent, if Anakin's instincts were right, because there were too many dynamics in place for this to be done poorly.

"Rex?"

"Dammit, Anakin, don't give me that face. I see how you watch Ahsoka, ever time she dances so close to death. Like you're going to die with her, even if it's only a little bit. You do the same for Kenobi, for that Senator. I don't want to be another one that pushes you that far, even if I… if I might have stepped over a line, where you are concerned." Rex's deep breath at the end was one more sign how much it cost him to be this open. 

"You just named every person, outside of my droid, that I'd give anything for to keep them alive and safe in this war, Rex. Including yourself." Anakin closed his eyes, afraid, as always, of being rejected. "But if you don't want this—"

"Kriff it, Anakin!" Rex shoved off his chair and into Anakin's space in one motion, claiming a brutal kiss that left little to the imagination of a Force user about intentions and entanglements. "My Jedi," he whispered when he let the kiss end, and Anakin's arms had gone around him. "Maybe it's programming. Maybe it's being a clone that lives for their Jedi. But I gave up fighting it a month into being under your command.

"I'm here, as your friend, as a warm body in your bed, as anything you want, for as long as I manage to survive," Rex finished, straightening to stand. Anakin's arms tightened on him, holding him there. He turned his face up to look at the blond with hope, and knew that was all over his face.

"You wouldn't just be a warm body in my bed, Rex. You never could be anything less than a friend, but if you want a lover… I think I'd like to explore that with you."

"As long as it doesn't entail dodging blaster fire from your Senator," Rex said, a trace of humor in his words, making Anakin laugh.

"We're not exactly cut out for monogamy, given the whole 'secret' portion of what we are? She's always asking if I've found a special someone… and now I know I have." Anakin stood up, then dipped in and took a kiss of his own. "Show me what it's like?" he invited, making Rex's eyes go wide.

"But… Kenobi?"

"Force, no! He's like a father, or a brother… but not that kind of brother!"

Rex had to laugh, then indicated the door that led out of the ward room. "Food, shower… and company?"

"Yes," Anakin said, still smiling, and feeling like maybe, just maybe, he'd carve out a little sanity for himself by having one more anchor, now that he knew Rex cared for him like this. They left together, to begin exploring what the future might hold.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Consummated Desire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8669425) by [ilyena_sylph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph), [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly)




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